Wagen



(No Model.)

M. P. STELLWAGEN ,& A. A. LYTLE.

MAIL BAG.

1%. 313,630. Patented Mar. 10, 1885.

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Miran ATES MICHAEL F. STELLW'AGEN AND ALTOl\ A. LYTLE, OF ST. IGNAOE, MICH.

MAiL-BAG.

EPECIEICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 313.630, dated March 10, 1885.

Application filed July 81, 1884. (N mcdel.)

T0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, MICHAEL F. STELL- WAGEN and ALTON A. LYTLE, both of St. Ignace, in the county of Mackinac and State of Michigan, have invented a new and Improved Mail-Pouch Fastening, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Our invention relates to fastenings for holding the mouths of mail-pouches or other bags tightly closed; and the object of the invention is to provide a strong, reliable fastening,which may be locked to close the pouch or bag by simply folding the fastening-frame together.

The invention consists in a mail-pouch fastening formed of a four-part frame hinged so as to fold closely together along opposite sides of the pouch, and provided with grooves into which the knuckles of two of the hinges pass, and with holes at one side or half of the folded frame receiving pins or studs fixed at the opposite side of the frame.

The invention consists, also, in particular constructions of the lock of the fastening, with jaws adapted to engage notches of a lock-stud, together with sliding blocks acting to keep the jaws open to receive the lock-stud and to lock the jaws in the slots of the stud, and a key having fiat end bits acting first to slide the endlocking-block outward to release the ends of the jaws, and then to enter between the jaws, to separate them for releasing the lockstud, all as hereinafter fully described and claimed. Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similarv letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a front View of the fasteningframe of the pouch, shown folded, and with the outer plate of the lock removed, and showing the look as adjusted for holding the pouch closed. Fig. 2 is a like view, with the outer lock-plate partly broken away, and with the lock adjusted by the key to unlock the pouch. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the closed frame of the pouch, with the lock adjusted as in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective View, partly broken away, of the fastening-frame with the pouch attached. Fig. 5 is an enlarged crosssectional View on the line 00 '00, Fig. 2, and Fig.I 6 is an inside View of the end sliding block of the lock. Fig. 7 is ascparate perspective View of the key.

The letter A indicates the folding frame of the fastening of the pouch, B its lock, and O the body of the pouch, which may be made of leather, canvas, or other suitable material, and is held at its mouth to a flange, a, of the frame A, and within an inside rabbet of the frame by rivets c, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. We

make the frame A in four parts, A A A At 3 11 12 which enter, respectively, the holes 12 b, 1

made in the parts A A. The fit of the hinge knuckles in the grooves a a and the fit of the pins in the holes I) b when the fastening is folded fiat to close the mouth of the pouch,

takes most of the strain due to endwise shocks on the frame off of the hinge-joints and lock of the frame. "We fix the lock B to the fastening-frame, preferably at the right-hand end of the part A of the frame, as shown. D D

are two spring locking jaws or plates,- which are fixed at one end to the part A or an inside plate of the lock. The free ends 01 d of the jaws D D extend nearly to the other end of the lock. The jaws D D are adapted to spring into the opposite notches, e e, of a stud, E, which is fixed to the part A and behind the head 6 of the stud.

F is a block fitted to slide backward and forward on guide-pins ff, and G is a spring fixed at one end to the lock-case, and resting by its other end against the block F, for'forc ing the block inward to carry its inner end portion, f, between the jaws D D when they are separated by the bits h h of the key H, the stem of which is bored to fit upon a pin, h, fixed in the lock. The block F has a side extension pieceor lug, f against which the head e of the stud E acts as the frame closes,

to force the part f of the block out from be; tween the lock-plates D D. i I is a block fitted by its groove 3 to slide endwise of the lock on a guide-block, i, fixed and carries the part f of the block out from to the lock or fastening, and J is a spring which is fixed to the outer end of the lock, so as to forcethe block I inward toward the ends d of the locking-jaws D, and carry the opposite shoulders, 73 i over or outside of the ends d d of the opposite jaws, D D, when they are entered into their respective notches e e of the stud E. The shoulders i of the block I limit the inward movement of the block by contact with the'ends of the jaws D, and thus keep the block clear of the pin h, to allow the key to be passed upon the pin. The'guide pins f of the block F pass between the-jaws D D, and hold their outer ends, (1 d, apart suffici-ently to admit the bit-head of the key between them. The operation is as follows: First, supposmg the frame A to be folded flat and locked to close the pouch, the jaws D D then are engaged in the notches e e of the stud E, which,

in passing through the aperture made for itto enter the lock B, has forced the block F outward from between the jaws to permit them to spring into said notches, which movement carries the extreme ends d cl of the jaws D D inside of the opposite shoulders, 13 i of the block I, which then is forced inward by the spring J, to lock the said shoulders at the outsideof the ends of the jaws, thereby locking the aws into the notches e e of the stud E.

, To open the pouch, the key H is passed in through the key-hole 7L2 upon the pin h and against the faces of the jaws D D, the bits h h of the key then ranging about parallel with the inner edge or side of the block I. The bits of the key may be turned in the space between the jaws D D and the outer plate, B,

of the lock, and when the key is so turned either way one of its bit-heads 71. will act. against the block I,-- to force it outward and disengage the ends d d of the jaws from the shoulders i z? of the block, as in Fig. 2. As the bit-head of the key is brought to horizontal position or to align with the space between the jaws D D, the key is pushed in to carry its bit-' head between the jaws, and on again turnmg the key either way. to cause the key-bits to range vertically, the jaws D D will be separated and lifted from the notches e e of the stud E, which may then be withdrawn. As the stud E is drawn out from between the aws D D, the spring G carries the block F lIlWtI'd,;tO bring its part f between the jaws I before the stud entirely leaves them. The

block-I nowrests against the extreme outer ends of the jaws D D, and the block F will hold the jaws apart properly, to permit the head 6' of the stud to again be passed between the jaws. Thekey H now is withdrawn, and the parts of the lock are in proper positions for locking the pouch-by simply closing its frame A together; which being done, the stud .E passes inward through-the part A of the fastening, and strikes the lug f 2 of the block F,

between the jaws D D, which then spring into the notches e e of the stud, and in so doing the ends d dof the jaws are moved along the edge of the block I until they pass inside of the shoulders i i of the block, which then is forced inward by spring J, to lock these shoulders outside of the ends of the jaws, .as will be understood from Figs. 1 and 3, and the fastening is complete.

We propose in practice to cast the parts of the frame A in malleable, iron, which will admit of different proportionof the parts from .thatshown in the drawings.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent l. A mail-pouch fastening consisting of a four-part folding frame, A, adapted to be fixed to the mouth of the pouch, and said frame having the grooves a a, which engage the knuckles of the hinge-joints 3 1, respectively, substantially as shown and described.

2. A mail-pouch fastening consisting ofa four-part folding frame, A, adapted to be fixed to the mouth of the pouch, and said frame having the grooves a a, receiving the knuckles of the hinged joints 3 1, respectively, and the pins b b, entering the holes 6 b, respectively, substantially'as shown and described. H

3. The combination, with the stud E on the frame A, having the notches e e, of the lock B, having the spring-jaws D D and the sliding block F, entering by its part f betweenthe jaws as the stud E is withdrawn in opening the pouch, and having a lug, f, against which the stud E strikes as the pouch is closed, to force the block F clear of the jaws, to permit thejaws to enter the notches e e of the lockstud, substantially as shown and described.

4.. The combination, with the frame A, stud E, springjaws D, and the block F, guided to enter between thejaws, of the spring G, substantially as shown and described.

5. The combination, with the spring-jaws D D, of the sliding block I, provided with locking-shoulders t" i substantially as shown and described.

6. The combination, with the spring-jaws D D and the sliding block I, having lockingshoulders a" 6 of the spring J, substantially as shown and described.

7. The combination, with the spring-jaws D D and the sliding block I, having lockingshoulders i i", of the key H, having fiat end bits adapted first to push the block I back clear of the ends of the jaws D D, and then to enter between the jaws for separating them to release the stud E, substantially as shown and described.

MICHAEL F. STELLWVAGEN. ALTON A. .LYILE. W'itnesses:

PETER N. PACKARD, LEWIS RYERSE.

IIS 

